My rich white Parmigiana in dish of Vietri Ceramic

Parmigiana is one of the most noted dish of Neapolitan Tradition. For tradition it must be made "red",  with sauce of tomatoes (if you prepare a ragù is better), aboundant parmesan and, naturally, fried eggplants!!!

 

During the years someone made a "white" version substituing tomatoes with bechamel or cream. 

Today, I present you my "white" version that I riched with ground meat. Clearly, it is a complete dish that, if you want, it could remember the Greek Moussaka. 

 

For the cook of the eggplants you have 3 ways: fried, roasted or in the oven. You can choose your way in base of your diet. Between the 3 choice, obviously the more tasty is the fried egglplants. 

I surely suggest you to NOT use the vapour cook. 

 

For the eggplants I suggest to choose not very large (you can look for the most tapered, they contain less seed. It mustn't be soft, but hard and fresh of crop

 

1 kg of eggplants

300 gr of ground meat 

250 gr of provola or mozzarella
1 glass of white wine 
25 gr of grated cheese (parmesan or grana cheese) 

Coars salt
Fine salt 
Pepper

(possibly 1 lt of sunflower oil to fry the eggplants and 100 gr of flour)
 

To assemble
1/2 l of bechamel

Breadcrumbs
Parmesan DOP or Grana Padano DOP 

 

 

Preparation (time of preparation about 2 and half hours)
Cook the ground meat in a pot with a few of EVO oil. Let it cook and when it is cooked, add white wine and let it smoke. Add salt and pepper.

 

Cut the eggplant into slices of a 2-3 cm thick without removing either the peel or the soul but eliminating the ends. Put them into a bowl with water and coars salt for about 30/40 minutes in way they lose their bitter taste. After 30 minutes put off the eggplants from the water and squeeze and dry them as well you can. Now you mast cook them... You have 3 ways: 

- in the oven, disposed on a backing sheet 

- roasted

- passed in the flour and fried in vegetable oil until golden brown (take care after cooking to leave them to dry on absorbent paper towel)

Assemble the White Rich Parmigiana using a Vietri ceramic roasting pan starting with putting on the bottom a thin layer of bechamel and a little bread crumbs.

You Place a layer of eggplant carefully lined up to the bottom. Cover the layer of eggplant with a light layer of bechamel, a bit of minced meat, a few of Provola or Mozzarella cheese, parmesan and a touch of fresh pepper. Start again with eggplant and repeats the same steps up to make 4 layers of eggplant. Close by adding the rest of the white sauce, minced meat and the Provola or Mozzarella cheese. Cover then with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour or until the surface does not form a crust.

 

Remove from the oven, leave to curdle for about 20 minutes and then serve.